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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 51 (Friday, March 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16483-16485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05777]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Availability of the Draft Uranium Leasing Program 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Draft Uranium Leasing Program Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (Draft ULP PEIS, DOE/EIS-0472D), for public comment. DOE is

[[Page 16484]]

also announcing the dates, times, and locations for public hearings to 
receive comments on the Draft ULP PEIS. DOE has prepared the Draft ULP 
PEIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 
the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) NEPA regulations (40 CFR 
parts 1500-1508), and DOE's NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR part 
1021) to analyze the reasonably foreseeable potential environmental 
impacts, including the site-specific impacts, of the range of 
reasonable alternatives for the management of the ULP. DOE's ULP 
administers 31 tracts of land covering an aggregate of approximately 
25,000 acres (10,000 ha) in Mesa, Montrose, and San Miguel Counties in 
western Colorado for exploration, mine development, operations, and 
reclamation of uranium mines. The cooperating agencies on this ULP PEIS 
are the: U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Colorado 
Department of Transportation; Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, 
and Safety; Colorado Parks and Wildlife ; Mesa County Commission; 
Montrose County Commission; San Juan County Commission; San Miguel 
County Board of Commissioners; Pueblo of Acoma Tribe; Pueblo de Cochiti 
Tribe; Pueblo de Isleta Tribe; Navajo Nation; and Southern Ute Indian 
Tribe.

DATES: DOE invites Federal agencies, state and local governments, 
Native American tribes, industry, other interested organizations, and 
members of the public to comment on the Draft ULP PEIS during the 60-
day public comment period, which ends on May 16, 2013. Comments 
received after this date will be considered to the extent practicable. 
DOE will hold public hearings on the Draft ULP PEIS; the dates, times 
and locations are listed under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: Please direct written comments on the Draft ULP PEIS to Mr. 
Raymond Plieness, ULP PEIS Document Manager, Office of Legacy 
Management, U.S. Department of Energy, 11025 Dover Street, Suite 1000, 
Westminster, CO 80021. Comments may also be submitted via email to 
ulpeis@anl.gov or via the internet at http://ulpeis.anl.gov/ gov/. DOE will 
give equal weight to written, email, and oral comments. Questions 
regarding the ULP PEIS process, requests to be placed on the ULP PEIS 
mailing list, and requests for copies of the document should be 
directed to Mr. Plieness by the means given above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information about the NEPA 
process, please contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of 
NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-54, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone: (202) 586-
4600, leave a message at 1-800-472-2756, or send an email to Ask 
NEPA@hq.doe.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Congress authorized DOE's predecessor 
agency, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), to develop a supply of 
domestic uranium. In 1948, the BLM issued Public Land Order (PLO) 459, 
which stated, ``Subject to valid existing rights and existing 
withdrawals, the public lands and the minerals reserved to the United 
States in the patented lands in the following areas in Colorado are 
hereby withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public-land 
laws, including the mining laws but not the mineral-leasing laws, and 
reserved for the use of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.'' 
Subsequently, other PLOs increased or decreased the total acreage of 
the withdrawn lands. In addition, the Federal Government, through the 
Union Mines Development Corporation, acquired a substantial number of 
patented and unpatented mining claims, mill and tunnel site claims, and 
agricultural patents, until the aggregated acreage managed by AEC 
totaled approximately 25,000 acres (10,000 ha). The areas under 
consideration are located in western Colorado in Mesa, Montrose, and 
San Miguel Counties.
    In July 2007, DOE issued a Programmatic Environmental Assessment 
(PEA) for the ULP, in which it examined three alternatives for the 
management of the ULP for the next 10 years. In that same month, DOE 
issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), in which DOE 
announced its decision to proceed with the Expanded Program 
Alternative, and also determined that preparation of an environmental 
impact statement was not required. Under the Expanded Program 
Alternative, DOE would extend the 13 existing leases for a 10-year 
period and would also expand the ULP to include the competitive 
offering of up to 25 additional lease tracts to the domestic uranium 
industry.
    In 2008, DOE implemented the Expanded Program Alternative and 
executed new lease agreements with the existing lessees for their 13 
respective lease tracts, effective April 30, 2008. In addition, DOE 
offered the remaining, inactive lease tracts to industry for lease 
through a competitive solicitation process. That process culminated in 
the execution of 18 new lease agreements for the inactive lease tracts, 
effective June 27, 2008. Since that time, two lease tracts were 
combined into one and another lease was relinquished back to DOE. 
Accordingly, there are 29 lease tracts that are actively held under 
lease and 2 lease tracts that are currently inactive.
    On June 21, 2011, DOE published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare 
this PEIS (see Volume 76, page 36097 of the Federal Register [76 FR 
36097]). In the NOI, DOE stated that it had determined, in light of the 
site-specific information that DOE had gathered as a result of the 
site-specific agency actions proposed and approved pursuant to the July 
2007 PEA, that it was appropriate for DOE to prepare a PEIS in order to 
analyze the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts, including the 
site-specific impacts, of a range of alternatives for the management of 
the ULP for the remainder of the 10-year period that was covered by the 
July 2007 PEA. After DOE published the NOI, it notified the ULP lessees 
that until the PEIS process was completed, DOE would not approve any 
new exploration and mining plans and would not require any lessees to 
pay royalties.
    After DOE published its NOI, the U.S. District Court for the 
District of Colorado issued two Orders in a lawsuit in which plaintiffs 
had alleged that DOE's July 2007 PEA and FONSI violated NEPA and the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA). Colorado Environmental Coalition v. DOE, 
No. 08-cv-1624 (D. Colo.). In its first Order, issued on Oct. 18, 2011, 
the Court, among other things, invalidated the July 2007 PEA and FONSI; 
stayed the ULP leases; and ordered that after DOE conducts an 
environmental analysis that complies with NEPA, ESA, all other 
governing statutes and regulations, and that Order, DOE could then move 
the Court to dissolve its injunction enjoining DOE from approving any 
activities on ULP lands. In the Court's second Order, issued on Feb. 
27, 2012, the Court granted in part DOE's motion for reconsideration of 
the first Order, and amended its injunction to allow DOE, other 
Federal, state, or local governmental agencies, and/or the ULP lessees 
to conduct certain activities that are absolutely necessary on ULP 
lands.
    DOE has prepared the Draft ULP PEIS to analyze alternatives that 
address the range of reasonable alternatives for the management of the 
ULP. Site-specific information available on the 31 lease tracts 
(including current lessee information and status, size of each lease 
tract, previous mining operations, location of existing permitted mines 
and

[[Page 16485]]

associated structures, and other environmental information) has been 
utilized as the basis for the evaluation contained in the Draft ULP 
PEIS.
    For the Draft ULP PEIS, DOE is complying with Executive Order 
(E.O.) 13175 and with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act by 
engaging in consultation on a government-to-government basis with 
Native American tribes and with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
respectively.

Alternatives

    Five alternatives are analyzed in the Draft ULP PEIS as follows: 
(1) Alternative 1: DOE would terminate all leases, and all operations 
would be reclaimed by lessees. DOE would continue to manage the 
withdrawn lands, without leasing, in accordance with applicable 
requirements; (2) Alternative 2: Same as Alternative 1, except once 
reclamation was completed by lessees, DOE would relinquish the lands in 
accordance with 43 CFR part 2370. If DOI/BLM determines, in accordance 
with that same part of the CFR, the lands were suitable to be managed 
as public domain lands, they would be managed by BLM under its multiple 
use policies. DOE's uranium leasing program would end; (3) Alternative 
3: DOE would continue the ULP as it existed before July 2007 with the 
13 then-active leases, for the next 10-year period or for another 
reasonable period, and DOE would terminate the remaining leases; (4) 
Alternative 4: DOE would continue the ULP with the 31 lease tracts for 
the next 10-year period or for another reasonable period; and (5) 
Alternative 5: This is the No Action Alternative, under which DOE would 
continue the ULP with the 31 lease tracts for the remainder of the 10-
year period, as the leases were when they were issued in 2008.
    DOE's preferred alternative is Alternative 4. That is, DOE would 
continue the ULP with the 31 lease tracts for the next 10-year period 
or for another reasonable period.

Public Hearings and Invitation to Comment

    DOE will hold four public hearings on the Draft ULP PEIS at the 
following locations, dates, and locations:
     Grand Junction, Colorado, April 22, 2013 from 6:30 to 9 
p.m. at the Colorado Mesa University, University Center Ballroom, 1455 
N. 12th St., Grand Junction, Co.
     Montrose, Colorado, April 23, 2013 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at 
the Johnson Elementary School, 13820 67.00 Road, Montrose, CO.
     Telluride, Colorado, April 24, 2013 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at 
the Telluride Middle/High School, 725 W Colorado Avenue, Telluride, Co.
     Naturita, Colorado, April 25, 2013 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at 
the Naturita School, 141 W Main St., Naturita, Co.
    The public hearings will begin with an open-house format with 
subject matter experts from DOE available to answer questions on the 
ULP and Draft ULP PEIS. The public hearing portion of the meeting will 
run from 7 p.m. through 9 p.m. Individuals who would like to present 
comments orally at these hearings should register upon arrival at the 
hearing or register via the internet at http://ulpeis.anl.gov/ before 
the public hearing dates. Members of the general public are invited to 
attend the hearings at their convenience any time during hearing hours 
and submit their comments in writing, or in person to a court reporter. 
Written comments on the Draft ULP PEIS may also be submitted to the 
address shown above under ADDRESSES or on the Internet at http://ulpeis.anl.gov/.
    The Draft ULP PEIS is also available for review on the ULP PEIS Web 
site at http://ulpeis.anl.gov/ or the DOE NEPA Web site at http://www.energy.gov/nepa and at the following reading rooms:
     Nucla Public Library, 544 Z Rd., Nucla, CO 81424-0129, 
(970) 864-2166.
     Montrose Regional Library, 320 S. 2nd St., Montrose, CO 
81401, (970) 249-9656.
     Naturita Public Library, 411 West Second Ave., Naturita, 
CO 81422, (970) 865-2848.
     Blanding Branch Library, 25 West 300 South, Blanding, UT 
84511, (435) 978-2335.
     Mesa County Public Library, 655 N. 1st St., Grand 
Junction, CO 81501, (970) 683-2449.
     Norwood Public Library, 1110 Lucerne St., Norwood, CO 
81423, (970) 327-4833.
     Dolores County Public Library, 525 N Main St., Dove Creek, 
CO 81324, (970) 677-2356.
     Wilkinson Public Library, 100 W Pacific Ave., Telluride, 
CO 81435, (970) 728-4519.
     Grand County Public Library, 257 East Center St., Moab, UT 
84532, (435) 259-1111.
     San Juan County Library, 80 North Main St., Monticello, UT 
84535-0066, (435) 587-2281.
    Following the end of the public comment period on the Draft ULP 
PEIS described above, DOE will consider and respond to comments 
received during the comment period in the Final Uranium Leasing Program 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. Comments received after 
the end of the comment period will be considered to the extent 
practicable. DOE decision-makers will consider the environmental impact 
analyses presented in the Final document, including public comments and 
other information, in making decisions related to the Final ULP PEIS.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2013.
David W. Geiser,
Director, Office of Legacy Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-05777 Filed 3-14-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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